Once something involves one's own interests, the news will spread everywhere like wings and cannot be stopped.
Within one night, everyone in the Dou family knew about it.
Some people secretly cursed Wang Yingxue as the root of trouble, some accused Zhao Si of having wild ideas, some calculated their own interests, and some watched the show without fear of the stage being too high, waiting to see the joke. But no matter what their mentality was, no one was willing to be the first to speak. For a moment, the originally lively and noisy Dongdou suddenly became quiet. Except for a few maids and old women walking around in the yard, no one in the rooms knew where the cat had gone.
Dou Zhao felt somewhat gloating over the misfortune, but Ji took her to the West Palace.
"Your grandfather is sick," Ji told her while changing her clothes, "Let's go see your grandfather."
In front of the Zhao family, he acted as if the Wang family was powerful and insisted on making Wang Yingxue the legitimate wife, and there was nothing he could do about it; in front of the Wang family, he acted as if he was dissatisfied with Wang Yingxue, but things had come to this point, and for the sake of both families' face, he would still find a way to make Wang Yingxue the legitimate wife. He wanted to please both sides, but now he was caught in a dilemma.
Is it an acute illness?
She complained in her heart and went into Heshoutang with Ji.
Dou Duo was lying on the bed wearing a green net scarf, looking very bad, with Aunt Ding serving him.
When he heard that Dou Zhao was coming to see him, he didn't even bat an eyelid.
Aunt Ding looked embarrassed.
Ji poured a cup of tea and motioned for Dou Zhao to bring it to his grandfather.
Dou Duo nodded and turned around.
Dou Zhao held the teacup, blinked and looked back at Ji.
Ji frowned slightly, took two steps forward, put her arm around Dou Zhao's shoulders, and smiled to comfort her: "Grandfather is ill and not in good spirits. Just put the tea on the small table."
Dou Zhao listened and carefully put the teacup down.
Dou Duo still ignored him.
Ji smiled and said to Aunt Ding, "Since Third Uncle has gone to bed, we won't disturb him. We'll go back first and come visit again tomorrow." Then she nodded politely to Aunt Ding, took Dou Zhao's hand and walked out.
On the way, Dou Zhao saw Pang's figure flash by among the flowers and trees.
She pretended not to notice and got into the carriage.
Pang hurried all the way back to Qixiayuan.
Wang Yingxue was extremely thin and looked unhappy as she was making autumn clothes for Dou Ming.
Her brother came and went, saying things she had never thought of before.
To put it bluntly, the reason why she can still live safely in Qixiayuan today is simply because her father has been reinstated and her family is no longer able to support her.
If her father was implicated because of her matter... Wang Yingxue didn't dare to think further.
But if she took Dou Ming back to the Wang family like this, how would she live in the future?
Whenever Wang Yingxue thought of the gentle and considerate Dou Shiying, she felt heartbroken and just hoped that this day could be delayed as long as possible...it would be great if she could wait for Dou Shiying to come back.
Seeing Mrs. Pang coming in, she forced a smile at her and said, "Second sister-in-law, why are you leaving in such a hurry? Is there something wrong?"
Pang poured herself a cup of tea and drank it all in one gulp. Then she sat down beside her and whispered, "I just saw Dou Zhao!"
Wang Yingxue couldn't help but let out an "ah" and sat up straight.
They had already heard Zhao Si's conditions last night. Wang Yingxue thought Zhao Si was crazy, but Pang's eyes were shining and she seemed absent-minded the whole night.
"Don't panic," Mrs. Pang said with a smile, "It looks like Dou Zhao is here with the Sixth Madam to visit the patient." She said, "Tsk tsk," "Don't tell me, Dou Zhao is really pretty. Just the pair of pearl-embroidered shoes on her feet must have cost at least ten taels of silver. The Dou family is really rich."
Wang Yingxue really didn't like her second sister-in-law's way of judging the quality of things by the amount of silver they cost.
But she couldn't say anything to her.
These days, she has relied on the help of her second sister-in-law for her affairs. She can't afford to argue with her second sister-in-law over these trivial matters, right?
"Yingxue, have you made up your mind?" Seeing Wang Yingxue didn't say anything, Mrs. Pang sneered in her heart. How could she be a whore and a saint at the same time? "Don't say that I, your sister-in-law, didn't remind you. Without the consent of the Zhao family, your father-in-law would never let you stay in the Dou family in such an unclear way. You don't want your brother, sister-in-law, and nephew to be embarrassed because of this, do you? If you become the legal wife, you can still get half of the family property. If you go back, the Dou family's property will have nothing to do with you."
"It's not like I can't support myself." Wang Yingxue said unhappily, "I just think that Old Lady Dou will definitely not agree to this..."
"That's a story for later." Mrs. Pang pressed Wang Yingxue, "Just tell me whether you want to be the legal wife or not."
Wang Yingxue lowered her head and said nothing.
"I was crying while listening to the storytelling - I was worried about the ancients!" Pang said, "Okay, I am meddling in other people's business. I will go back to Nanwo now, and I will not care about your business anymore!"
Wang Yingxue suddenly grabbed Pang's sleeve.
Pang couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and smile.
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As Dou Zhao and Ji got off the carriage, they saw Cai Lan walking towards them in a hurry.
"Sixth Madam," she knelt and saluted, whispering, "Fifth Master is back with Sixth Master and Seventh Master!"
Dou Zhao and Ji were both shocked, and Ji looked even more solemn: "Do you know why the three gentlemen came back?"
"I don't know." Cai Lan shook her head. "I just heard that the fifth master asked for a few days off and came back with the sixth and seventh masters." She added, "The seventh master has already returned home, and the sixth master was just called over by the lady, who also told him that if you return home, you should go over immediately."
Ji thought for a moment and asked, "Besides me and the Sixth Master, who else is there?"
"And the Third Master and the Third Madam."
Ji thought for a while and said, "I understand." She handed Dou Zhao to Tuoniang and Caishu and said, "You take good care of Shougu. When I come back, send her back home."
The two of them agreed at the same time and carried Dou Zhao back to Ji's house, while Ji took Cai Lan to see the lady.
There was silence in the lady's yard. The maids and old women who were serving her stood in the middle of the yard with bated breath.
Seeing Ji, Madam Liu, who was standing on the steps of the main house, hurried forward to greet her. She accompanied Ji into the house with a smile, and said in a mosquito-like voice, "The Fifth Master talked with the Madam in the inner room for a long time as soon as he came back. When he came out, he asked a few people to come in."
Seeing that she was only two steps away from the inner chamber, Ji winked at Madam Liu and walked in with a smile as Madam Liu lifted the curtain.
Everyone had already sat down, waiting for her to come.
Ji hurried forward and saluted everyone.
The Second Lady laughed and said, "No need to be polite, there are no outsiders here." Then she pointed to the empty cushion next to Dou Shiheng and said, "Sit next to the middle seat!"
Ji sat down with a smile, but took the opportunity to quickly glance at the third wife.
The third wife sat there with her eyes on her nose and her nose on her heart, her expression undetectable.
"Everyone is here!" Dou Shishu, who was sitting side by side with the Second Lady, said with a smile, "I came back this time to ask Third Brother and Sixth Brother for help with something important."
He was a typical member of the Dou family, tall and straight, with fair and delicate skin, bright and lively eyes, and his voice was as gentle as a spring breeze.
Dou Shibang bowed hurriedly.
Dou Shishu said, "Wang Xingyi banned the horse market in Gansu, and the Wang family incident happened. If he is impeached, Zeng Ge Lao will become very passive. The Wang family incident must be resolved quickly. I have an idea. Let's talk about it and see if it is feasible?" He paused and his eyes slowly passed over the faces of his brother and sister-in-law, and his younger brother and sister-in-law. "Zhao Ruifu proposed that the third uncle allocate half of the property to Shougu as a dowry. I think the third uncle will never agree. So I roughly estimated that half of the Dou family's property is now in the East Mansion and the other half is in the West Mansion. The East Mansion is divided into six parts, of which the first, second and fourth rooms account for half, and the third brother, me and the sixth brother account for half..."
When Ji heard this, she had a vague idea of Dou Shishu's plan. Her heart was pounding and she couldn't help but look at the Second Lady.
The Second Lady sat upright with a steady look in her eyes.
She thought of Cai Lan’s words again.
It seems that Uncle Wu has already got the support of Mother-in-law!
Ji glanced at Dou Shibang.
Dou Shibang opened his mouth slightly, apparently guessing what Dou Shishu would say next.
But he quickly regained his composure and continued to listen to Dou Shishu's words as seriously as before.
Look at the husband again.
His face was full of indifference, and it was obvious that he already knew what Dou Shishu would say.
Ji sighed.
Dou Shishu's voice came to my ears: "...Our three branches together have exactly half of the property of the West Mansion, which meets Ruifu's requirements. If the third brother and the sixth brother's wife agree, I would like to assign the share of the property that our three branches deserve to Shougu. As for the losses of the third brother and the sixth brother, please give me some time, and I will write an IOU and pay it back slowly."
As soon as he finished speaking, before the third and sixth wives could respond, the second wife said, "If you need anything urgently, tell me the amount. I still have some money to support myself. I can still take it out to cover the expenses of this family for three to five years."
The person Dou Shibang respected the most was his mother, not to mention that this was for the future of his younger brother.
He had nothing to say.
But he was not in a position to express his opinion, for fear that his sixth brother and his wife would think he was meddling.
Dou Shiheng had always had the ambition of "a good woman does not wear her wedding dress, and a good man does not eat the food of his parents", and he had already known about this matter before he came back. He was just afraid that Ji would feel wronged, so he could not help but look at Ji.
Dou Shishu has planned everything, how can she object?
She nodded toward her husband.
Dou Shiheng said in a deep voice: "I agree."
Dou Shibang was a man who could easily let go of things. Seeing that the matter had been settled, he no longer had any scruples and said, "I agree." Then he felt that the atmosphere was a bit depressing, so he pretended to be cheerful and said, "We don't need Fifth Brother to write any IOUs. Mother's personal money should be kept for her to reward her grandchildren. For daily expenses, both I and Sixth Brother can afford it. If the day comes when we are at the end of our rope, I will bring my son, daughter-in-law, grandchildren, and granddaughters to Kyoto to find Fifth Brother."
Dou Shishu smiled gently, his smile was cordial and sincere: "Don't worry, Third Brother, I will definitely welcome you with open arms!"
Dou Shiheng laughed out loud.
The Second Lady was genuinely happy, and the wrinkles on her face seemed to have disappeared. "Good, good, good. Brothers united in purpose can accomplish anything. If you can do this, I can die with my eyes closed. Don't worry, as long as there is a bite from your Fifth Brother, there will be a bite from you. I'm saying this, Fifth Brother, swear in front of your elder brother and sister-in-law, your younger brother and sister-in-law..."
"No, no." The Third Wife also responded at this time, and said with a smile, "This is not the business of any one person, it is our family's business, how can we let Fifth Brother take care of it alone?" Then she teased, "Mother, you are trying to sow discord between us brothers and sisters-in-law by saying this!"
"I'm wrong, I'm wrong!" The Second Lady smiled as if she had eaten an immortal fruit. "I won't say anything more, I won't say anything more."
Dou Shishu stood up with a smile: "In that case, I won't say any more. I have already invited Lang Ge'er, the eldest sister-in-law, and the second sister-in-law to talk in the flower hall. I think they must have arrived by now, so let's go together!"